Journal For The Soul — Why Journaling May Help You
I understand that not everyone has a desire to write, but I truly feel that journaling is much more than just writing. Journaling is a way of pouring your thoughts and feelings onto something concrete, essentially giving them life! Had a bad day? Journal it. Had an amazing day? Journal that too. The list goes on about what you could be journaling about, and each journal entry is a release of emotions that you would otherwise bottle up. If you haven’t considered journaling before, then I have a couple of straightforward reasons to share on why it could potentially benefit you.
An Emotional Release
Like anyone, I have experienced frustrating days where I wanted to go off, but instead, I reached for my journal and began aggressively writing. As I went on, my aggression-writing subsided, and I was able to fully digest what I was so frustrated about. It felt good to write out all that I was feeling and to know that I was responding to my emotions rather than reacting to them. It’s easy for us humans to react to how we are feeling, but it is never wise to act out negatively on a temporary feeling. With journaling, you can process everything through writing, which in turn allows you to respond in a more positive manner. We all need an emotional release, so why not have a positive one?
It’s Easier Than You Think
Daily journaling can be daunting to anyone who does not actively write, but the wonderful thing about journaling is that your entries do not have a minimum word count to meet. You can write a sentence or three pages worth of whatever it is that you wish to write about — the key is to just do it. That’s advice I even give myself because it’s not every day that I pick up my journal, but on the days that I do, I know the feeling after is always positive. And just like anything new, it’s best to start slow and work your way to daily journaling, if that’s something that you want to do. It can be done in a physical journal (my personal favorite), your computer, or even your phone! You don’t have to worry about grammar, spelling, or what topic to write about. The only thing that may keep you from starting is the idea that journaling is “too much” work.
So give it a try because you really have nothing to lose! You may fall in love with journaling the same way I did, and you may even consider it to not be “just writing” too. Filling the pages of a journal becomes a form of therapy, releasing the good and the bad. It’s even therapeutic to look back on old journal entries and see how much things have changed. And hopefully, when you look back at your entries, the change you see is for the better.
